Assignment of Rights Agreement: Everything You Need to Know

An assignment of rights agreement refers to a situation in which one party, known as the assignor, shifts contract rights to another party, known as assignee. 3 min read

An assignment of rights agreement refers to a situation in which one party, known as the assignor, shifts contract rights to another party. The party taking on the rights is known as the assignee.

An Assignment of Rights Agreement

The following is an example of an assignment of rights agreement. Dave decides to buy a bicycle from John for $100 and after agreeing on the price, Dave and John draw up a written agreement. Let's suppose that there will be a one week wait before the bicycle is ready for delivery to Dave and before anything is passed between them.

Meanwhile, John accepts that he will transfer his right to be paid $100 from Dave to Rob, in exchange for Rob paying John $90 immediately. Let's assume that John's motivation is an immediate need for cash. In this context, John is regarded as the assignor and Rob is the assignee.

John is the assignor as he is giving the assignment to Rob and Rob is the assignee because he is acquiring the assignment from John. To put it simply, the assignee is the party who gets something. In this case, Rob will receive $100.

Rules of Assignments

Assignments frequently occur in contracts. It's important to note the following points:

  • The assignor (e.g. John) is accountable according to the contract unless the parties make an agreement that states otherwise.
  • This means that if Dave does not receive the bicycle, he can sue John for it.
  • Assignments are allowed in almost every type of agreement unless the contract includes an explicit ban on assignments or unless a specific exception is applicable.
  • The assignor does not need to speak to the other contract party in order to create the assignment. For example, John would not need to ask Dave if John can transfer his right to be paid to Rob.

Exceptions Where a Contract Cannot be Assigned

  • Some exceptions dictate that a contract cannot be assigned .
  • Unenforceable assignments include the following: a personal services agreement, changing the contract duties, changing the material provisions of the agreement (e.g. time, amount, location, etc.).
  • An example of a personal services agreement, which cannot be assigned, would be if you decided to employ a particular professional writer to write a book for you.
  • That writer would not be allowed to take your payment and then give the work to another writer because you employed that particular writer to write the book, rather than someone else.
  • Some kinds of assignments have to be in writing in order to be enforceable such as assignments of actual property (e.g. selling your house), loans, or debts.
  • It's best to look at the statute of frauds for more information on the kinds of agreements that must be in writing.

Delegations and Novations

A delegation is very similar to an assignment in terms of what it involves. A delegation takes place when a party moves his or her obligations (or liabilities) under an agreement to a different party. Assignments, on the other hand, involve the transfer of rights.

If the parties in our previous example had created a novation , Rob would be entirely accountable to Dave and John would be clear of responsibility. A novation replaces the earliest party with a new party.

Contract Assignment

An Assignment Agreement can also be called a Contract Assignment. Another example of this would be if you're a contractor who needs assistance finishing a job. You could give those tasks and rights to a subcontractor, but only if the original agreement does not prohibit the assignment of these rights and responsibilities.

Creating an Assignment Agreement

In an Assignment Agreement, it is important to include details such as:

  • The name of the person assigning the responsibilities (known as the assignor)
  • The name of the of the party who is taking the rights and responsibilities (the assignee)
  • The other party to the first agreement (known as the obligor)
  • The name of the agreement and its expiration date
  • Whether the first contract necessitates the obligor's approval before assigning rights
  • The date of the obligor's consent
  • When the contract will be put into effect
  • Which state's laws will regulate the contract

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Assignment of Rights Agreement: Definition, Terms, Example

Jump to section, what is an assignment of rights agreement.

​​An assignment of rights agreement is a written document in which one party, the assignor, assigns to another party all or part of their rights under an existing contract. The most common example of this would be when someone wants to sell their shares of stock in a company.

When you buy shares from someone else (the seller), they agree to transfer them over and give up any control they had on that share. This way, another party can take ownership without going through the trouble of trying to buy the whole company themselves.

Common Sections in Assignment Of Rights Agreements

Below is a list of common sections included in Assignment Of Rights Agreements. These sections are linked to the below sample agreement for you to explore.

Assignment Of Rights Agreement Sample

Reference : Security Exchange Commission - Edgar Database, EX-99.(H)(7) 5 dex99h7.htm FORM OF ASSIGNMENT AGREEMENT , Viewed December 20, 2021, View Source on SEC .

Who Helps With Assignment Of Rights Agreements?

Lawyers with backgrounds working on assignment of rights agreements work with clients to help. Do you need help with an assignment of rights agreement?

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ContractsCounsel is not a law firm, and this post should not be considered and does not contain legal advice. To ensure the information and advice in this post are correct, sufficient, and appropriate for your situation, please consult a licensed attorney. Also, using or accessing ContractsCounsel's site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and ContractsCounsel.

Meet some of our Assignment Of Rights Agreement Lawyers

Ralph S. on ContractsCounsel

Ralph graduated from University of Florida with his JD as well as an LLM in Comparative Law. He has a Master's in Law from Warsaw University , Poland (summa cum laude) and holds a diploma in English and European Law from Cambridge Board of Continuous Education. Ralph concentrates on business entity formation, both for profit and non profit and was trained in legal drafting. In his practice he primarily assists small to medium sized startups and writes tailor made contracts as he runs one of Florida disability non profits at the same time. T l Licensed. in Florida Massachusetts and Washington DC this attorney speaks Polish.

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